While there’s no shortage of games for solo play, or even team play, on your device or computer, nothing can replace a face to face match for building relationships and pure enjoyment.
Virden Legion is the place to go for that, coming up Sunday afternoon. They are holding a cribbage tournament there, Sunday, Dec. 16.
The game I played with my grandmother Connie and my grandfather John Lean in a cottage in Arrow River sticks with me to this day as a favourite.
Why? Most of all, it was playing with my grandparents that made every game we played so attractive. Rummy and Chinese checkers were also a hoot.
But in cribbage, the little pegs (move into holes grouped by fives) add to the attraction for a kid. And, because there is math skill and logic involved in cribbage, along with the element of pure chance found in most every card game, cribbage remains a favourite.
In their turn, our boys learned to play cribbage with their Grandpa Jim. He said he invited them to play to enhance their math skills. He didn’t mention the pleasure he derived from playing with his grandsons, but … we knew it!
The Legion tournament, Kel Smith says, is wide open to the public. You do not need to be a Legion member to enter the tournament.
If you need to brush up on the game before you attempt a tournament? On the web you can find a tutorial: cribbageclassic.com
If you are busy Sunday afternoon, consider a friendly game of cribbage this some evening this holiday season.
History of cribbage
The card game of cribbage was created by the English poet Sir John Suckling in the early 1600s as a derivation of the game "noddy". While noddy has disappeared, crib has survived virtually unchanged as one of the most popular games in the English-speaking world.
The objective of the game is to be the first player to score 121. Points are scored for card combinations that add up to fifteen, and for pairs, triples, quadruples, runs and flushes.
Originally the five-card game was played where only one card was discarded to the crib by each player. Now the six card game is more popular with two cards each being discarded to the crib.
Cribbage was immortalised in Charles Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop, where the game was a signpost along the life’s journey of a key character in the English writer’s book; a game played on long winter evenings. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cribbage)
